


A Father's Mistake

by theSapphireSky



Series: The Rosie Story [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Mistakes from the past, Post-The Final Problem, Single Father, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 12:10:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9490427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theSapphireSky/pseuds/theSapphireSky
Summary: What happens when Rosie discovers a secret from her father's past...





	

She heard his breathing before she heard his footsteps on the grassy hill. She should have known he would find her.

Not bothering to wipe the tears from her face or hide the angry bitterness in her tone, Rosie bit out, ‘Leave me alone.’

She also should have known he would do whatever the hell he wanted to. 

John’s knees creaked as he sat down beside her. She hugged her legs closer to her body and refused to look at him, instead keeping her eyes locked on the distant lights of London. A chasm of darkness separated them from the bustling city. And right now, an even wider chasm sat between her and her father.

From the corner of her eye, she watched him run a hand through his hair, mussing it up. Not for the first time either. He looked ragged and broken.

‘I don’t know what to say,’ he began, but she cut him off.

‘Then don’t try,’ she snapped. Anger and betrayal bubbled up inside her like a poison. ‘Just go away.’

He sighed. 'Rosie, I need to explain. Will you please hear me out?’

She sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve as a fresh wave of angry tears slipped down her cheeks. 'What can you possibly say? Some excuse to get yourself off the hook?’

He shook his head. 'No. But since you already know part of the story, you deserve to know all of it. The whole truth.’

'I don’t care about the whole truth!’ She exclaimed, turning to face him finally. 'All I care about is that you cheated on mum! I don’t care if it was with Uncle Sherlock’s sister in disguise, I don’t care that she was tricking you on purpose, and I bloody well don’t care that it was only over text!’ 

Her father blanched, his face paling with guilt and shame, unaware of just how much she had discovered. 

Her bottom lip trembled violently and she sobbed, 'You had her for years, loved her and married her. And you still…’ She trailed off brokenly and turned away.

John couldn’t speak. All the shame and regret from years ago washed over him in waves that threatened to drown him.

Rosie whispered, 'I don’t even remember her. I didn’t even get a chance to know her. But from all the stories you and Uncle Sherlock and Aunt Molly have told, she was incredible. So how could you…?’

He tilted his head back and his lips thinned as he tried to hold himself together. 'I have asked myself that a thousand times in the past thirteen years.’ 

She looked over at him and he met her gaze, allowing his tears to fall.

'I don’t have an answer,’ he admitted softly. 'All I can say is that I was a selfish, cheating bastard. And your mother,’ his voice broke. 'Your mother was an incredible woman. And I live every day with the regret that I did that to her, that I took her for granted, that I wasted the little time I had with her being an utter arse.’

By the end of his admission, they were both unable to hold themselves together. In one move, John opened his arms and Rosie leaned into his chest. He brushed his hand soothingly along her arm as she cried. 

When their tears had run out but their hearts were still heavy, Rosie whispered brokenly, 'I wish I had known her.’

John rested his chin on her head and closed his eyes. 'Me, too.’

oOo

When the sun began to rise, John looked down to find Rosie had dozed off. He wiped his thumb across the dried tears on her cheek and pressed a kiss to her head. 

His heart still ached for Mary, for the life they could have lived, for the family that could have been. 

He had wasted so much of his life buried under regrets, secrets, and pain. 

But when he looked their Rosie and saw Mary’s smile or flashing temper, that ache eased just a little and the future looked that much brighter for them.

For John and his Rosie.


End file.
